CFP: 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society

The American Folklore Society invites you to submit a proposal for its 137th Annual Meeting October 18–21, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia with the Virtual Meeting sessions taking place November 12–14, 2025. The proposal window is February 12 through April 1, 2025.

The Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society will bring hundreds of US and international specialists in folklore and folklife, folk narrative, popular culture, music, material culture, and related fields, to exchange work and ideas and to create and strengthen relationships and networks.   

The theme of the conference is Restoring and ReStorying: Missing Stories and Moving Forward.  The Local Organizing Committee is excited to offer this framework for the conference, but remember that adhering to the theme is optional and will NOT affect acceptance.

The 2025 AFS Annual Meeting will feature a number of live-streamed sessions and events. We will accept individual presentation proposals to be given in person in Atlanta and virtually as part of a fully virtual program following the meeting. Please note we will not be offering hybrid sessions this year but will continue building on previous years’ robust series of virtual meeting days for the broadest access possible.

The proposal submission system is now live! Take a moment to visit and prepare to submit your proposal here by April 1.

Hints for New and Returning Submitters:

• All 2025 Submitters must first complete a simple Proposal Registration (no fees) in order to submit their proposal. As in all prior years, Payment to Register will be required once acceptance is communicated.
• The same Proposal submission system is in use for 2025: if you utilize the same email from your 2024 Annual Meeting registration, you will have access to your past proposals and meeting activity.
• All accepted presenters will be scheduled to participate in ONLY ONE presentation. Please submit ONLY ONE Presentation Proposal through this form. However, if you are submitting an event, business meeting, or other activity outside of your proposed presentation, you can submit those activities here as well.
• When submitting your proposals, if you or any of your panelists are not “Available In-Person,” your submission will be considered for only the Virtual Meeting.  
• In response to continued feedback about over-scheduling the Annual Meeting, the review team is planning to continue to schedule fewer total sessions, making proposal acceptance as competitive as in previous years. 
• Proposal webpages have special instructions for Pre-Organized sessions, Chairs, Posters, and other submission types.
• You can edit or gradually complete your proposal through April 1, so don’t wait to begin. AFS staff will have more time to assist with technical difficulties in advance of the deadline.
• Please contact annualmeeting@afsnet.org with questions and be on the lookout for Office Hours opportunities throughout the submission period. 

With all of this in mind, we encourage you to think creatively about how you would like to participate this year!

Requests for financial support to offset costs of Annual Meeting registration fees are open through April 1, 2025. After you submit your proposal for the 2025 meeting, please use this form to complete your application for the registration fee waiver. Notifications will follow in early May.

Additional information for sponsors and exhibitors will be released later this spring. You can find more information about the meeting at the 2025 Annual Meeting page.